Importance of an ‘Independent’ Trustee

The law requires all trustees to act independently and impartially. The term ‘independent trustee’ is used to describe a trustee who does not benefit from the assets of the trust.

Buying Into an Existing Business

Buying an existing business is sometimes preferable to establishing one from scratch.

Paper Roads and Public Access

Easier to find than ever! Paper roads are relatively widespread across New Zealand farmland. They are more precisely called ‘unformed legal roads’ and have the same legal status as any other legal road.

All Trustees Must Sign when Dealing with Trust Assets

When establishing a family trust that usually owns your family home and some investments, the usual ‘mum and dad’ trust has you and your partner as trustees, together with an independent trustee.

Director’s Drawings

Money withdrawn from the company by you as the owner or shareholder that’s to be used for anything other than for the business is called ‘drawings’. These drawings can generally be categorised as salary or dividend payments or advances under your shareholder current account.

When a Trustee Loses Capacity

With New Zealand’s ageing population, more and more people are losing mental capacity as they grow older. When this happens to a trustee of a trust, it can make trust administration difficult or, in some cases, almost impossible.

Powers of Attorney

A power of attorney allows you to appoint someone (the attorney) to look after your affairs. It’s a common mistake for company directors to think their personal attorneys can look after a company’s affairs in their absence.

Finance Conditions for Sale & Purchase Agreements

With the standard ADLS/REINZ Agreement for Sale & Purchase containing a ‘subject to finance’ condition, a purchaser must do all things reasonably necessary to arrange finance on or before the finance date.

Forestry Rights

Forestry Rights were created by the Forestry Rights Registration Act 1983, which means the first wave of cropping relating to those rights is well underway.

Signing on Behalf of Trustees

Plan ahead. Trustees sometimes need to sign documents in a hurry. An example is bank mortgage documents which may need to be signed so that the trust can borrow to cover expenditure.